Mistaken Identity
by Katriona
Summary: Years after Piper, Phoebe, and Paige's deaths, the *real* Charmed Ones discover their destiny. *Please review* *Ch 2 Up: Meet the Charmed Ones*
1. Prologue

Mistaken Identity  
Summary: Years after Piper, Phoebe, and Paige's deaths, the real Charmed Ones discover their destiny. *Please review*  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any familiar characters. However, Rachel, Robyn, and Rhianna are mine.  
  
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"It's okay, baby." Phoebe cooed. She'd been the first to get upstairs when her nephew, Wyatt, had started crying, and now she was hovering over his crib, making comforting sounds.  
  
Piper, Leo, and Paige rushed in just as Phoebe was picking him up. She turned around to tell them it was okay, she had him, but she found she couldn't say anything. She gave a small shudder as the room went black. No sooner had she touched the baby than she was swept into a premonition.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
There were three young women in the Halliwell attic, standing in front of the Book of Shadows. They were holding on to each other, chanting something. Then, a bright light filled the room. Just as suddenly as the light came, it was gone, and so was the premonition.  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Piper ran forward to take her little boy. "Phoebe, what is it?" she asked frantically, afraid that it had something to do with Wyatt. "What did you see?"  
  
Phoebe described every detail of her short premonition. Leo particularly listened with great interest.  
  
"What did these women look like?" he asked.  
  
Phoebe shrugged. "I can't really remember, which bugs me because usually an Innocent's face is what stays the clearest in my mind. I know they definately looked like sisters, maybe in their early twenties. The oldest looked a lot like Piper, but I just don't remember the other two."  
  
Leo nodded. "I'll go check with the Elders."  
  
Half an hour later, Leo orbed back in. The girls were waiting for him in the living room. Piper had Wyatt in his bassinet next to the couch; she hadn't let him out of her sight since Phoebe's premonition.  
  
"Well, what did they say?" Paige asked impatiently.  
  
Leo sighed. "You better brace yourselves. This is... big."  
  
"Leo, tell us." Piper said, glancing nervously at the baby.  
  
"There's been some kind of huge mix-up." Leo began. Three pairs of eyes stared at him curiously, so he went on and got to the point. "You aren't the Charmed Ones."  
  
Phoebe's jaw dropped. Whatever she'd been expecting her premonition to mean, it certainly wasn't that. "Come again?"  
  
"There was some technicality... You would have been, except that your mom had Paige." Leo realized what he was saying didn't make any sense, and glanced apologetically at his youngest sister-in-law. "The prophecy said three sisters, not three out of four. The Elders have suspected since they found out about Paige that you aren't the real Charmed Ones, but they weren't sure until now."  
  
"So... those girls, they're the real Charmed Ones?" Phoebe asked.  
  
Leo nodded. "Your vision was probably of the distant future, a long time from now. The Elders think Wyatt set it off because the girls you saw will be descended from him."  
  
"So what does this mean for us?" Paige asked quietly.  
  
"Nothing, unless you want it too." Leo replied. "You've more than proven you can handle demons, Charmed or no."  
  
"Wow." Phoebe breathed. She looked at her sisters. They were all thinking the same thing. "We need time," she said, "to think."  
  
"Of course you do. They've already agreed to give you as much time as you need." With that, Leo looked up. They were calling him again.  
  
After he orbed out, nobody said a word. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige stared at each other for a long time, the same phrase going around in each of their heads.  
  
Not the Charmed Ones.  
  
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A/N: So, what do you think? Should I continue? If I do, the second chapter will be with the real Charmed Ones, so don't get all confused when you see different names and such. 


	2. A Considerable Amount Of Time Later

"Rae? You okay?" Rachel asked, knocking on the door to her younger sister's room.  
  
Raelyn nodded, and motioned for Rachel to come in. The two girls sat on Raelyn's bed, hugging each other. It was the day after their father, Wyatt's, funeral.  
  
"Maybe we should go check on Rhia." Raelyn suggested.  
  
Rachel shrugged. "I wouldn't know what to say."  
  
Their youngest sister, Rhianna, had never been close to them. She'd left San Francisco right after high school, and didn't come back until she'd found out that her father was sick. Even then, despite Raelyn's best efforts - and a few half-hearted attempts from Rachel - she was even more distant than ever.  
  
Raelyn got up, and dragged her older sister across the hall.  
  
"Rhi? Honey?" she called, knocking on Rhianna's closed door.  
  
Rhianna opened the door. Her long, light brown hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail. Rachel was amazed again at how much her youngest sister looked like their mother, Elaine, who'd died when Rhianna was only a few weeks old.  
  
Rhianna stepped aside to let her older sisters in, then flopped down unceremoniously on the bed. Raelyn sat down beside her, and Rachel stood uncomfortably off to the side.  
  
"Honey, how are you?" Raelyn asked gently.  
  
"Never better." Rhianna replied sarcastically.  
  
"She's just worried about you, Rhia, you don't have to be so caustic." Rachel chided.  
  
"Sorry, sis; thanks for your concern." Rhianna snapped. "I never asked to be worried about."  
  
"See? I told you she wouldn't want us here." Rachel said to Raelyn.  
  
"Can't the two of you get along just this once, damnit?" Raelyn demanded. She got up and stalked out of the room, leaving Rachel and Rhia to stare at eaach other. After a few minutes, they went to find their sister.  
  
Raelyn was in the living room, crying and clutching a picture of the girls and their father. Rachel and Rhianna immediately forgot their animosity and rushed to comfort their sister.  
  
"It's okay, sweetie." Rachel said, putting her arms around Raelyn. Rhia sat on Rae's other side, and put her head on her sister's shoulder.  
  
"I just miss him so much." Raelyn cried. "And what happens now? You both know the reason we all moved back here was to take care of him. So what now, do we just all leave? Go back to the way it was before, when we only saw each other a few times a year?"  
  
Rhianna and Rachel exchanged guilty looks. "No, honey, of course not." Rhia said, although she wasn't sure.  
  
"You don't know that." Raelyn sobbed.  
  
Rhianna tried to think of something to say, but she couldn't come up with anything that would comfort her older sister. Rae is probably right, she realized. After things had settled down a bit, Rhia would probably go back east. After all, why would she stay? There wasn't anything for her here, and Rachel obviously didn't want her. Rhianna sighed, thinking of how upset her oldest sister had been at her return.  
  
"That isn't going to happen." Rachel said firmly, giving Rhianna a warning glance.  
  
"Rachel's right." Rhianna jumped in. "Sweetie, we're going to get through this."  
  
Raelyn nodded. She didn't completely believe her sisters, but still there was something comforting about what they were saying.  
  
"Come on, honey." Rachel said. "It's getting late. Let's go see what we've got for dinner, okay?"  
  
Raelyn got up, drying her eyes on a tissue from the box on the coffee table, and followed her sister into the kitchen. Rhianna stayed behind, and picked up the photograph that Raelyn had been looking at.  
  
It was of Wyatt, Rachel, Raelyn, and Rhianna, when Rhia was around five, and her sisters were eight and ten. The girls had been best friends back then, inseperable. For a long time they'd done everything together, then, around the time Rhia went into high school, it changed. She and Rachel started fighting more and more, until Rhia couldn't take it and bailed right after graduation. She'd reflected on that time often, but she couldn't figure out exactly what went wrong. What happened, to make her relationship with her sister change so dramatically?  
  
I guess I'll never know, Rhia thought. Sighing, she put the picture down and went into the kitchen to join her sisters in pretending to be the happy family they were in reality far from.  
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A/N: I know this chapter could've been better, but you get the idea, right? Some of you may have noticed that I changed the middle sister's name from Robyn to Raelyn. I just like the name Rae better, and yeah. Review and let me know what you think of the story this far. 


	3. The Explosion

That night, after Raelyn was asleep, Rachel went into Rhianna's room.  
  
"I think we should call a truce." she said.  
  
"Fine." Rhia replied. "You stop treating me like such a screw-up, I'll think about it."  
  
"Right, Rhianna, because everything's my fault, isn't it?" Rachel snapped. "You're just the poor, innocent baby sister, and I'm the horrible, demanding perfectionist."  
  
"Yeah, that's about right." Rhia said coolly.  
  
"Fine," Rachel said, throwing her hands up. "Forget it. But if I'm so bad, how come you're the one who bailed on us the first chance you got?"  
  
"I bailed on you?" Rhianna repeated, shocked. "You gave up on me a long time before I left, Rachel. Why should I have stayed, when we both know damn well that you wanted me gone?"  
  
"Like you've ever listened to me before!" Rachel retorted. "What about Rae, and Dad? How did you think they felt when you took off?"  
  
"Don't you lay that on me, Rachel Prudence." Rhianna said, shaking with anger. "Just because you've dedicated yourself to being the martyr, taking care of everyone else and screwing yourself and what you wanted to do, doesn't mean the rest of us have to. Some of us actually have the courage to go out and pursue our dreams-"  
  
"Which is what, exactly?" Rachel asked, her voice rising. "What was it you did in New York, Rhianna? Because all I heard from Rae and Dad was that you needed money, or that you got fired again from another dead-end job waiting tables at some hellhole bar. So what was it you were hoping to accomplish, exactly? And did you accomplish it? Did you?"  
  
"At least I wasn't too afraid to try." Rhia retorted smugly. "At least I didn't stay home, hiding behind my supposed devotion to my little sisters, absolutely terrified of doing anything else. God, you really fooled everyone, didn't you, Rach? They all felt so bad for you. Poor Rachel, stuck at home, caring for her dumbass little sisters and her sick father. And oh, she's so brave. Never once complains. Didn't they ever wonder why you were so happy to do all this, so eager to stay at home when you could've been going away to college, living on your own, like everyone else your age wants? Didn't they ever notice how scared you were of failing, and how that was the reason you stayed so close to dear old dad? Damn, girl, maybe you could be an actress. If, of course, you ever get up the courage to try something on your own."  
  
"You ungrateful bitch." Rachel whispered, tears rolling down her face. "I'm the scared one? I'm the one afraid to do anything? Tell me, then, how come you ran away after Daddy got sick, and I was the one who stayed here, and had to watch him die? Oh, sure, you came back in the last few weeks, to say good-bye, and all the other daughterly bullshit you thought you should do. But me, I was here the whole damn time. I took care of him when he was sick, I watched him get worse every day. I stayed by him, me, while you were off doing God-knows-what and not dealing with it at all. Now who's the coward in the family?"  
  
With that, Rachel ran out of the room. She locked herself in her own bedroom, and buried her face in her pillow, sobs wracking her body.  
  
Rhianna, meanwhile, had also started crying. Angrily, she threw her pillow at the now-closed door, where only moments ago Rachel had been standing. Then, she lay back onto her bed, burying her face in the mattress.  
  
Neither girl slept that night.  
  
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A/N: Did that completely suck? I was trying to show them as being beyond pissed off, you know, the whole 'underlying family issues' deal. I dunno if I got it, though. Review and let me know what you think, I could really use some feedback. 


	4. Tension

Raelyn had woken up late last night, and heard much of her sisters' heated altercation. Now, she wandered timidly into the kitchen for breakfast, afraid of what she might find.  
  
Her sisters were at opposite ends of the kitchen; Rachel at the table, Rhianna sitting at the counter. They both looked like they'd been crying, though each girl had tried her best to hide it. Neither would look at the other. The tension in the air was so thick that Raelyn could choke on it.  
  
"Hey, guys," Rae said a little too cheerfully.  
  
"Hi, honey." Rachel replied.  
  
"Morning, sweeite." Rhianna said at the same time. Neither sibling took notice of the other.  
  
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Rachel broke it by rising. "I have to get to work." she said to Raelyn, ignoring her other sister. "Have a good day, honey."  
  
"You too." Raelyn murmured. She watched Rachel leave, then poured herself a cup of coffee and took her older sister's seat. "So," she started, turning to Rhianna. "What are you doing today?"  
  
"I don't want to talk about it," Rhianna snapped irritably. "I'm going out."  
  
Raelyn was left alone in the kitchen. She sipped her coffee, wondering how to get her sisters to make peace.  
  
And hour later, her coffee was cold, and she still didn't have any idea what to do about her sisters. This was much deeper than sibling rivalry, and it scared her. She got up, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind. There was nothing she could do about it now.  
  
To distract herself, Raelyn went down into the basement to sort through some of their old things. She'd been meaning to do this since Wyatt had died, but had kept putting it off. Now, she thought, was as good a time as any.  
  
It wasn't long before she uncovered things she'd forgotten even existed. In one box, she uncovered the old dollhouse that had been passed down from her great-grandmother. She turned the dolls around in her hands, remembering the many hours she'd spent in front of the dollhouse as a little girl, with her sisters. In another box, she found Rachel's old collection of porcelain dolls. Rach had loved them, but she'd forbidden her sisters to so much as touch them. Smiling, Raelyn put down the doll and moved on. In a third box, she found the old spirit board that the girls' grandmother had given them. Raelyn blew the dust off; it looked as good as new. Temporarily abandoning her work, she brought it upstairs to play with.  
  
She set it down on the kitchen table, and tried to think of a good question. When they were little, Rachel and Rhia used to ask the simplest little things: What their husbands' names would be, if they would get rich, etc. Raelyn was the only one who'd ever taken the thing seriously. She'd believed her grandmother and great-aunts when they told her of the board's magical properties, and she still believed them. That's why she wanted to ask something good, so as not to waste the magic on trivial things.  
  
Finally, she came up with a question. Tentatively, she put her hands on the pointer and whispered, "What will make Rachel and Rhia stop fighting?"  
  
The pointer quivered, and jerked to the letter 'A'. Raelyn, taking one hand off the pointer, reached for a pen and pad, and scribbled it down as the pointer jutted to the letter 'T'. It shot back to the center of the board, then back to the same letter. From there, it went to 'I', then came to a stop on 'C'.  
  
Raelyn held the paper to her, squinting through her eyeglasses to make out her own shaky handwriting. On the paper was written one single word: "Attic."  
  
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A/N: I know this chapter is kindof short, but I've been a bit busy lately. I really need encouragement to finish this fic, as I'm experiencing a bit of writer's block, so please review. 


	5. Attic

Attic.  
  
Raelyn stared at the paper, wondering what it meant. Shrugging off her apprehension, she decided there was only one way to find out.  
  
Nervously, she made her way upstairs. It struck her as odd when she realized that, although she'd lived in the manor her whole life, she'd never been inside the attic. Neither had her sisters, to the best of her knowledge. Her father had always said that it was full of valuables that the girls' grandmother and the aunts had collected over time, and they weren't allowed in the attic so they wouldn't break anything or get hurt. Rae had never questioned this explanation, until now.  
  
Raelyn stopped in front of the attic door, her hands shaking. Apprehensively, she tried the doornob. It didn't turn. Rae struggled with the nob until she noticed an antique dresser next to the door. She rummaged through it, but she found no key. Sighing, she gave up. Accepting defeat, she leaned against the door. As soon as she put some weight on it, it popped open so easily that Raelyn nearly fell in. She stood just inside the doorframe, staring at the now wide-open door. A minute ago, it had been locked. She was sure of that. So why, then, had it swung open under so little pressure?  
  
Cautiously, Raelyn stepped inside. It was dark in the attic, though there was one small spot of light. Rae followed it, until she came to it's apparent source: A large, leather-bound book.  
  
Without her touching it, the book flipped open to the front page. "The Book of Shadows." she read aloud. As soon as she said the name, the book started flipping again. This time, it stopped on a page toward the back, written in what Rae immedeately recognised as her grandmother's handwriting. Silently, she read the text.  
  
"To my three darling granddaughters,  
I'm not sure where or how to begin, so I'll just get to the point. You have all been blessed with a wonderful gift, the same gift that has been given to every woman in our family for hundreds of years. You have the gift of magic.  
Our ancestor, Melinda Warren, was burned at the stake in colonial times for being a witch. Before she died, she had a vision of three sisters, more powerful witches than anyone on earth. You are these sisters. You, my darling girls, are the Charmed Ones.  
I know that this is a lot to take in. I understand more than you can ever know. This letter, and the powers you will or have already received, will confuse you, amaze you, and infuriate you, sometimes all at once. Your destiny is a huge responsibility and an enormous danger, but it is also a wonderful blessing. Please don't ever forget that.  
I have to end this now. It's late, and your father, who as I write this is little more than a week old, is crying. Please treasure your gift, and above all, stick together. You will need each other more than you can imagine.  
Blessed be,  
Love, Piper"  
  
Raelyn jumped back as the book started flipping again. This time, it went back to the front. Rae came closer to the book, staring at it warily, and read.  
  
This page was filled with the story of Melinda Warren, in more detail than Piper had gone into. At the end was what looked like an incantation of some sort. Somehow, Raelyn got the sense that she should read it aloud.  
  
"Hear now the words of the witches,  
The secrets we hid in the night,  
The oldest of gods are invoked here,  
The great work of magic is sought,  
In this night and in this hour,  
I call upon the Ancient Power,  
Bring your powers to we sisters three,  
We want the power... Give us the power!"  
  
Raelyn heard a crash, and ran to the window. She looked up and down the block, but there was nothing. She was hit with the sick realization that the sound had come from inside the attic. She whirled around, and came face-to-face with the ghost of a woman that bore a definate resemblance to her younger sister.  
  
"Who are you?" Raelyn asked, her voice coming out in a choked whisper.  
  
"I am Melinda Warren." the figure answered simply.  
  
Rae shook her head. "That's not possible.. Melinda Warren was burned at the stake in the 1600s."  
  
"Don't remind me," Melinda said, wrinkling her transparant nose. "It was quite painful."  
  
Raelyn bit her lip. Despite herself, she was beginning to believe that this was the ghost of her ancestor. "How did you get here?"  
  
"You summoned me, of course." Melinda answered, as if it should be obvious. "You and your sisters are the Charmed Ones, are you not?"  
  
"I... I don't know." Rae stammered.  
  
"I hope you are." Melinda said. "It was bad enough we got it wrong the last time; do you have any idea how embarrassing it would be for the Elders if we were wrong about you, too?"  
  
"Last time?" Raelyn questioned.  
  
"That's right, they didn't tell you, did they?" Melinda asked, her voice full of pity. "We had thought that your grandmother and her sisters, Phoebe and Prudence, were the Charmed Ones. They weren't, obviously; as we later found out, they had a younger half-sister."  
  
"Aunt Paige." Raelyn murmured, smiling at the thought of her great-aunt. "Wait, so what does this mean? Gram left us a letter in the- in that book, over there." Rae said, gesturing to the Book of Shadows. "She said that we had powers. What are they?"  
  
"Oh, the Book of Shadows." Melinda exclaimed, ignoring her great-great-great-great-many-times-over-granddaughter and instead inspecting the book. "It's gotten so full. Every one of my daughters has added something or other. You will, too, my darling." she said, turning to Rae again.   
  
"But what about the powers?" Raelyn pressed. "And the danger? What's going to happen to us?"  
  
Melinda looked troubled, and her image started to fade. "I have to go. Blessed be." With that, she was gone.  
  
Raelyn stared at the spot where Melinda had been. She contemplated calling after her, but knew it would be useless. Rae was filled with fear. Melinda hadn't answered her most pressing question.  
  
What was going to happen to them?  
  
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A/N: So, what do you think? Let me know. Review. Now. Go. Please? 


	6. The Talk

A/N: I know, it's been a while since I've updated this. I'm trying to finish this and other fics, so feedback would be muchly appreciated.  
  
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After the episode in the attic, Raelyn went into her room to rest, hoping that when she woke up, this would all have been a dream. Dead ancestors appearing hundreds of years later was too much for even the open-minded, easy-going Rae to comprehend. However, she had no such luck. When she woke up an hour later, and tiptoed cautiously back into the attic, the door was wide open, and, in the very middle of the room, illuminated by a patch of sunlight, was the Book of Shadows.  
  
"I have to tell Rachel and Rhianna about this," was Raelyn's next thought, spoken out loud although she didn't realize it.  
  
As if in answer to her thought, her younger sister appeared behind her.  
  
"There you are, Rae," Rhianna said. "I've been looking for you for the past twenty minutes. Honey, what are you doing up here?"  
  
Raelyn took a breath, trying to process everything at once. "Um, why don't we go downstairs to talk?" she suggested, putting her arm around Rhianna and leading her down to the living room.  
  
"Are you okay?" Rhia asked, noticing Raelyn's odd behavior.  
  
"Yeah, fine," Rae replied, pushing her sister toward the couch. "Um, I just, yanno, I was thinking... Um, Rhia, this is going to sound crazy but... What do you think about witchcraft?"  
  
Rhianna laughed. "Witchcraft? You mean, like Samantha Stevens, and Sabrina Spellman?"  
  
"No," Rae said, rolling her eyes. "You watched way too much TV when you were in New York. What I mean is actual witchcraft. Spells, potions... fighting evil things. What do you think of it?"  
  
Rhia's smile faded. "Oh, honey, you're serious?"  
  
Raelyn nodded.  
  
Rhianna frowned. "I don't know. It's... weird, in a Hollywood-fiction-type way."  
  
"So you don't believe in it?" Raelyn pressed.  
  
"No," Rhia said slowly. "Um, what brought this on, sweetie?"  
  
"You're never going to believe this..." Raelyn went on to tell her sister about what had happened in the attic.  
  
Rhianna listened quietly, trying to make sense of it all. "It just... it seems so... incredible..." she said eventually.  
  
"I know," Raelyn conceded. "I know, I'm probably going crazy, right?"  
  
Rhia shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant. I don't think you're crazy. I just... I don't know."  
  
Suddenly struck with an idea, Raelyn took her sister's hand and led her back up to the attic.  
  
"What are we doing here?" Rhia asked, as they came to a stop in front of the Book.  
  
Raelyn opened it, and flipped to the page with Piper's handwriting. "There. Read that."  
  
Rhianna scanned the page, reading the letter quickly. "That's from Grams?" she asked when she'd finished. "But that must mean... My God, it's really true, isn't it?"  
  
"So I'm not crazy," Raelyn mused. "You see it, too."  
  
Rhianna nodded slowly. "But what does this mean?"  
  
"For starters," Raelyn replied, "It means that we're each going to get a magic power. That's the upside. The downside is that, because of said powers, all hell will basically be unleashed, on us, twenty-four seven."  
  
Rhianna sighed. "So what do we do?"  
  
Raelyn shrugged. Neither girl had time to think, however, because just then they heard the click of the front door open and shut. Rachel was home. 


	7. First Fight

"You're both certifiably insane."  
  
That was Rachel's initial response to her sisters' story about the Book of Shadows, and everything Raelyn had found. They'd purposely left out the note. They thought it would be better for Rachel to see it for herself.  
  
"Thanks, sis," Rhianna replied dryly.  
  
She'd expected this from Rachel, she'd warned Raelyn that this would be the reaction they'd get, but Rae had insisted on telling her anyway. "After all," Rae had argued, "She's going to find out eventually."  
  
"I know it sounds out there," Raelyn said now. "I can hardly believe it myself. But Rach, there's something you need to see."  
  
Rachel reluctantly followed her sisters up to the attic. "This is rediculous," she muttered.  
  
"Just read this," Rhia insisted, pointing to the page the Book had been left open to.  
  
Rachel did, her forehead creasing in a frown. "This is such BS," she said. "Whatever game you two are playing, you need to stop it now, because it's really not funny."  
  
"There's no game, Rach," Raelyn denied. "Look closely. You know that's Grams' handwriting. You might not believe that I saw Melinda, but you can't dispute what's on that page."  
  
Rachel shook her head, struggling to come up with some kind of rationalization. "Okay, so I'll assume for a minute that this isn't some ass-backward trick you're playing. This looks a hell of a lot like Grams' handwriting, so for the moment I'll pretend that I believe it is. She can't have been serious. Maybe she was... speaking figuratively. Or... or playing a joke on us. Or..." Rachel let her voice trail off, giving up. She was grasping at straws, and she knew it. "Well, just because I can't think of a reasonable explanation doesn't mean there isn't one," she insisted, as much for her own assurance as to convince her sisters.  
  
"But what if there's not?" Rhianna pressed. "What if everything in Grams' letter is true, and we're witches?"  
  
"That's not going to happen, Rhia," Rachel insisted. "Raelyn was probably just dreaming or something. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work." She turned, and, with a harsh glare to her sisters, started toward the attic stairs.  
  
"Rach, wait," Raelyn called. Rachel spun around. "Just out of curiosity," Rae asked, "Why did you come home?"  
  
Rachel shrugged. "I had the feeling the two of you were doing something crazy. Obviously I was right."  
  
Raelyn and Rhianna exchanged glances.  
  
"So, you knew what we were doing just as we were doing it?" Raelyn questioned. "Almost like... magic?"  
  
Rachel sent her a look of pure disgust. "Rae, I don't know what kind of creepy-ass stories Rhianna's been feeding you since she got back, but there's no such thing as magic. Now I really don't want to see both my sisters go psycho on me, so please just drop it." With that, she turned and started out of the attic.  
  
"So what now?" Rhianna whispered to Raelyn. "Do we do what she said? Do we just drop it?"  
  
"I don't think that's an optian anymore," Raelyn replied quitely, staring at the Book of Shadows. Pages were turning on their own again.  
  
"Rach, look," Rhianna called triumphantly.  
  
"Now wha-" The words died on Rachel's lips as she spun around again and saw the book. She ran over to it, inspecting it as the pages continued to turn. By the time it stopped, she was convinced that her sisters were telling the truth.  
  
"Yamta," she read aloud. She looked up at her sisters expectantly. "What the hell is this?"  
  
"Still think we're insane?" Raelyn asked with a hint of satisfaction.  
  
Rachel sighed. "Fine. You were right. I can't explain this one. Now what the hell is a 'Yamta'?"  
  
Rhia and Rae went over to the book, silently reading the page it had opened to.  
  
"It says here he's a warlock," Raelyn pointed out.  
  
"And that would be...?"  
  
"Probably the evil that Melinda told Rae about," Rhianna said.  
  
"There's some kind of spell here," Raelyn added.  
  
"So what are we supposed to do with a spell?" Rachel asked impatiently.  
  
Just then, the girls heard a crash downstairs. They ran out of the attic, Rhianna clutching the book, and found a short, bald man in a black suit standing in the conservatory amid shattered glass. He'd obviously broken in through the windows, but it wasn't so apparent how he'd done it. It looked like there had been a major explosion.  
  
"What the hell?" Rachel exclaimed.  
  
"I think this would be Yamta," Raelyn told her.  
  
"Come here, say the spell," Rhia told her sisters. They all gathered around the open book, and started chanting.  
  
"Blowing things up was your m.o.,  
  
So out with a bang is how you'll go,  
  
Yamta, you no more shall be,  
  
We vanquish you with the Power of Three!"  
  
The sisters huddled together and looked on with awe as the warlock disappeared in a fantastic explosion. The stood, holding the Book of Shadows between them, and leaned against each other for support. Although they'd all been at least partially convinced of the existance of magic, none of them could quite grasp the reality of what they'd just seen. All three siblings came back to the same quiestion.  
  
What now? 


End file.
